1911 9mm

[remoandiris]

My best friend has a blued Trojan CRP. He bought it about a year ago. Never an issue with it. Runs great using factory ammo or minor reloads. I put over 1,000 rds thru it. I was going to buy it until I decided I wanted a hard chromed gun, so I got a CRP in .40. It also worked great out of the box

BTW, out of all the guns discussed here, which ones have a lifetime warranty? Lifetime of the gun, not the first owner, that is. AFAIK, only the STI does.

May or may not make a difference if/when you decide to sell.

[davidb72]

I must have gotten lucky because the two 9mm Trojans that I got from Dawson have been almost GLOCK like in their reliability.

I load using S&B SPP, 147gr Ibejiheads with either Universal, Unique, or Titegroup, and have had NO problems at all.

I put almost 20k rounds through one last year and am on pace to put that many on my new one this year.

[RippinSVT]

RippinSVT, care to share your loads?

I almost exclusively shoot a 115 Zero, XTP, or HAP with 3.9gr of Titegroup (I've played with 3.6-4.3, all shot well), with matched cases (Speer, Starline, Lapua, etc), and a Federal primer. I crimp consistently and just enough to remove the bell, plus a tiny bit (.378ish IIRC). The real accuracy stems from OAL tuning though. I started approaching pistol reloading in the way I would reload for a match rifle. You wouldn't believe the difference in accuracy from tuning seating length.

I've also started developing an AA7 load that is much hotter, and it doesn't start grouping until you get into the upper 7's (gr). I'll have to check my notes, but it was a stout load.

[fastlane604]

RippinSVT,

Thanks.

[jdlincoln]

9mm RO's a nice gun once you do some trigger work, install a magwell and F/O front. Mine comes in 1.5 oz. under weight as such with VZ's, 10rd Wilson ETM's and a S&A aluminum magwell. It's all in all done about 2/3's of the $ we have in the wife's similar setup DW Pointman 9, but there ain't no comparison in the quality.

JD

[Xrunner]

I've been doing a LOT of factory 9mm 1911 shooting lately (probably 2000 rounds last 2 weeks). Lots of load tuning, bench shooting at 25/50 yards, Ransom rest, etc. I have the following 9mm's I've been playing with.

-Springfield Loaded Target (slightly older one)

-STI Trojan 6.0

-STI TargetMaster

-Kimber Target II

-Kimber USA Shooting Team Match II

-Les Baer Monolith

(plus some Glocks with fitted barrels, an M&P Performance Center CORE, and a full-size Sig P320, that I can think of)

Additionally, I have handled the RO pretty extensively, though not this week. Unless STI has changed something real recently, they will outshoot the Springers any day of the week and twice on sunday. The Springers are nice entry pistols and no doubt a great value and foundation from which to build, but the bench accuracy (and general reliability) of the STI single-stacks has made me a believer. They will shoot with the Baers with the right load. The Springers best 25yd groups were around 1.5-2" and averaging closer to 3". That's pretty decent for most people, although I consider it very average. To put in perspective, a semi-fit Bar-Sto in a G19 was having no issues doing 1.75" at 25. The STI's on the other hand are doing sub-1" at 25, and both of them have put 5 or 6 shot groups into 1.2" at 50, which is insane. Today with the 6.0 Trojan and some OAL load tweaking yielded a 5-shot group at 25 of .6", with the first shot as a "flyer" and the other 4 going into a quarter inch (center to center). That was backed up with a 1.2" 5-shot 50 yard group. A poorly fitted pistol won't do this, it simply can't.

As far as the Baer, it shoots like a Baer. The Kimbers seemed to have an edge on the RO for raw accuracy, but had a real short chambers which is a pain in the ass for load tuning.

Any thoughts on the STI Trojan 6 vs. the STI TargetMaster?

[G T]

Target master has the rear sights designed for bullsye or action pistol or something like that. It has 3 settings to utilize after zeroing for 15, 25, and 50 yards?? I had one for about a week that I traded off.

[RippinSVT]

I've been doing a LOT of factory 9mm 1911 shooting lately (probably 2000 rounds last 2 weeks). Lots of load tuning, bench shooting at 25/50 yards, Ransom rest, etc. I have the following 9mm's I've been playing with.

-Springfield Loaded Target (slightly older one)

-STI Trojan 6.0

-STI TargetMaster

-Kimber Target II

-Kimber USA Shooting Team Match II

-Les Baer Monolith

(plus some Glocks with fitted barrels, an M&P Performance Center CORE, and a full-size Sig P320, that I can think of)

Additionally, I have handled the RO pretty extensively, though not this week. Unless STI has changed something real recently, they will outshoot the Springers any day of the week and twice on sunday. The Springers are nice entry pistols and no doubt a great value and foundation from which to build, but the bench accuracy (and general reliability) of the STI single-stacks has made me a believer. They will shoot with the Baers with the right load. The Springers best 25yd groups were around 1.5-2" and averaging closer to 3". That's pretty decent for most people, although I consider it very average. To put in perspective, a semi-fit Bar-Sto in a G19 was having no issues doing 1.75" at 25. The STI's on the other hand are doing sub-1" at 25, and both of them have put 5 or 6 shot groups into 1.2" at 50, which is insane. Today with the 6.0 Trojan and some OAL load tweaking yielded a 5-shot group at 25 of .6", with the first shot as a "flyer" and the other 4 going into a quarter inch (center to center). That was backed up with a 1.2" 5-shot 50 yard group. A poorly fitted pistol won't do this, it simply can't.

As far as the Baer, it shoots like a Baer. The Kimbers seemed to have an edge on the RO for raw accuracy, but had a real short chambers which is a pain in the ass for load tuning.

Any thoughts on the STI Trojan 6 vs. the STI TargetMaster?

The Trojan is slightly more versatile with more traditional sights, the TargetMaster having PPC sights and all. Also, the Trojan has more holster options with a standard frame vs the extended and squared dust cover of the TargetMaster. The TargetMaster certainly is a slightly nicer gun with more frills, but the Trojan 6.0 is a fantastic piece. We're getting groups down by the day with load tuning, put the first 4 into .3" at 25 yards the other day, with a flier bumping the group out to .75". That's accuracy. Both can be hard to find it seems, I'd go with whatever you can get and what is the best price. You'll save $200 on the Trojan, but you'll have to upgrade safeties, grips, etc right away as those are junk.

[SubOrbital]

Neither. Dan Wesson PM9

Correct answer. This gun is amazing out of the box. Tight, smooth, and tame...everything you'd want in a lady, but in your gun. Trigger out of the box is great and puts many factory guns to shame. The front sight is FO, but wide; if you like to action shoot you may want a narrower front sight. Checkering is aggressive on the front strap and factory mainspring housing. All you'd really need is a blended mag well; I currently have an unblended 1pc Nighthawk mainspring housing/magwell on mine.

Magazine wise, I didn't like how the gun perform with Wilson ETM magazines. I ended up with a steady diet of Dawson modified Metalform mags and Tripp Cobra mags. I see that Dawson now offers Cobra mags with Dawson baseplates at a reasonable price and those will be my future mags.

Perhaps the only thing I did on mine that I thought wasn't necessary was a slightly heavier recoil spring. I didn't like how light the factory provided one was (9lb?) and went to a 10lb recoil spring.

Edited March 18, 2016 by SubOrbital

[polymerfeelsweirdman]

Neither. Dan Wesson PM9

Correct answer. This gun is amazing out of the box. Tight, smooth, and tame...everything you'd want in a lady, but in your gun. Trigger out of the box is great and puts many factory guns to shame. The front sight is FO, but wide; if you like to action shoot you may want a narrower front sight. Checkering is aggressive on the front strap and factory mainspring housing. All you'd really need is a blended mag well; I currently have an unblended 1pc Nighthawk mainspring housing/magwell on mine.

Magazine wise, I didn't like how the gun perform with Wilson ETM magazines. I ended up with a steady diet of Dawson modified Metalform mags and Tripp Cobra mags. I see that Dawson now offers Cobra mags with Dawson baseplates at a reasonable price and those will be my future mags.

Perhaps the only thing I did on mine that I thought wasn't necessary was a slightly heavier recoil spring. I didn't like how light the factory provided one was (9lb?) and went to a 10lb recoil spring.

Hell, from the ones I've looked at, the dan Wesson's easily put Les Baer triggers to shame

[Face5535]

Wesson PM9!!

[Thaunk]

What would you guys suggest for 3 gun?

[Thaunk]

Sorry, double post because of crap reception on my phone.

Edited March 19, 2016 by Thaunk

[jdlincoln]

Something plastic you don't mind dragging in the dirt. Certainly not a PM-9.

JD